2023-12-01 16:05:00
(CNN) — The US House of Representatives voted this Friday to expel Republican Representative George Santos, a historic vote that makes the New York congressman the sixth legislator expelled from the House.
The New York congressman had survived previous attempts to remove him from office, but there was growing momentum for this latest effort following the House Ethics Committee released a long-awaited report in November, which concluded that Santos “sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his personal financial benefit.”
Several Republicans who previously did not support expelling Santos said they would vote to expel him as a result of the Ethics Commission’s findings, although it was unclear before the vote whether there would be enough support to expel the congressman.
Expulsion is the most severe form of punishment for a House lawmaker. It is extremely rare and requires a two-thirds majority vote to succeed, a very high bar. Only five congressmen had been expelled in history.
Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro of New York said Speaker Mike Johnson informed the House Republican Conference on Friday morning that he would vote once morest the measure to oust Santos and encouraged members to vote as their districts they would like
Santos announced that he would not seek re-election following the publication of the Ethics Commission report, but he refused to resign and denounced the investigation as “a disgusting politicized defamation.”
News in development…
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